blogs
For a song
Is there a song that really takes you back? For me, it's "Hush, Little Baby" ("Hush, little baby, don't say a word. Mama's gonna buy you a mockingbird...") My mom used to sign that to me when I was little. Well, now it's my turn in the singer's seat. First of all, I'm not a good singer. And I don't seem to remember a lot of baby songs. I've tried "Hush, Little Baby," but it's just not right unless my mom is singing it. My husband's go-to-soothing song for Nicholas is the theme from The Partridge Family. No idea why. I've gone with "You Are My Sunshine" because it's easy, "The Rose" because we sang it in choir when I was a kid and, at bedtime, "Taps" (credit my dad's military background). But last night, as Nicholas was fussing, for some reason I belted out "Copacabana." And it worked. Immediately. So what's frightening me is the thought that Nicholas will associate his early days in this world not with charming songs of parental love but with cheesy 1970s tunes. Do they make leisure suits for 5-month-olds?
Comments
What is it about little boys not wanting Mom to sing when they're five? Lately Jonah gets really mad when I start to sing. When I was pregnant with him I sang a couple of different songs.Then when he was a baby and was barely able to talk , he would sing with me. I shortened Jim Croce's Hey Tommorow."Hey tomorrow, where are you going? Do you have some room for me? The night is fallin' and the dawn is calling. I'll have a new day if she'll have me."
If we're in a lively mood you can't beat Creedence "Lookin Out My Back Door."
I whipped out "When I'm 64" for Abby. You know "When I get old and losing my hair, many years from now..." I have no idea where we got that. I'll credit Doug with that one. For Maddie I whipped out "Sweet Baby James" but we changed it to "Sweet Baby Grace" since Maddie didn't really fit but her middle name did. Nothin' like a little James Taylor to soothe a screaming baby and a frustrated mom.
That's funny! I can't ever remember my mother singing to me. Probably because in church, she'd try to sing along, and her voice was soooo horrifying, my brother and I would beg her not to sing. Now I, on the other hand, can carry a tune and loved singing to Bella when she was a baby. Her favorite to this day is Somewhere over the Rainbow. When she's sick or had a bad dream, I just sing that to her and she's quickly soothed back into sleep.
Rock a bye baby was a classic that I sang to my kids. Then as they got older I would sing along to the CD in the car full of kids songs...until the one day when I heard two annoyed little voices say "Mom could you please stop singing, I can't hear the music" and from the younger one "No sing mom!" So now I rock out quietly since my voice is not appriciated :)